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Compacting/deletion of files?

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  • 1 has this problem
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  • Last reply by christ1

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I am hesitant to allow the new version of Thunderbird to compact the files (something I did easily in previous versions). The message indicates it will delete files marked for deletion (moved to the trash container?) and I would like be able to recall files I accidently delete. I use to allow file compaction and the trash folder would not be emptied, is this still the case? I would go through the trash folder every 30 to 60 days and delete the 30 to 45 days worth knowing I they were no longer needed. I have read many of the threads pertaining to compaction and I still cannot find an answer to this question.

Thank You for your time and effort in this issue. -Mark-

I am hesitant to allow the new version of Thunderbird to compact the files (something I did easily in previous versions). The message indicates it will delete files marked for deletion (moved to the trash container?) and I would like be able to recall files I accidently delete. I use to allow file compaction and the trash folder would not be emptied, is this still the case? I would go through the trash folder every 30 to 60 days and delete the 30 to 45 days worth knowing I they were no longer needed. I have read many of the threads pertaining to compaction and I still cannot find an answer to this question. Thank You for your time and effort in this issue. -Mark-

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That is how the older compact files system use to work. This link only talks about compacting files. The new message indicates it will delete files marked for deletion. Is this "https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/compacting-folders" still applicable to the newer version of thunderbird? The new notification reads as if it will delete files that are marked for deletion? The link only addresses compacting files (similar to the old compact notification). I cannot get it to show me the message again so I cannot quote it directly but I will keep canceling it until I know it will not delete my trash folder to avoid loosing valuable Emails.

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OOPS: Thank You for your quick response. -Mark-

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Quoting from the article, in case you haven't read it:

Compact (purge) is a maintenance process, so it:

  • does not delete messages from folders
  • does not remove messages from trash or spam folders
  • does not compress folders by using compression algorithms such as zip

If this isn't clear enough, I can't help you.

I will keep canceling it

Good luck with that, it's only a matter of time until you'll run into bigger problems with that strategy.